Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business
In May 2010, Forbes Technosys Limited (FTL) was not doing well. After more than a year, the company's bill payment kiosk business was losing money and no longer seemed viable. The time had come to re-evaluate all aspects of this business line and make decisions regarding FTL's future course of action. Accordingly, FTL's chief executive officer proposed an idea regarding prepaid mobile recharges using the existing bill payment kiosks, along with a new technology platform for this purpose. He hoped that handheld terminals could be used by retail-level franchisees to sell recharges to prepaid mobile users. Essentially, FTL had three options: should the company persist with or pivot the service provider business model, or "perish" the complete solution provider idea entirely and revert to being a product manufacturer? Whichever strategy FTL chose, it would have to limit and balance both operating and capital expenses. Davinder Singh is affiliated with Management Development Institute.
Swot Analysis of "Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business" written by Davinder Singh, Anuj Sahu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ftl Ftl's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ftl Ftl's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ftl Ftl's operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ftl Ftl's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ftl Ftl's
Strengths Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ftl Ftl's in Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Ftl Ftl's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Strong track record of project management
– Ftl Ftl's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Ftl Ftl's is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Davinder Singh, Anuj Sahu can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
High brand equity
– Ftl Ftl's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ftl Ftl's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ftl Ftl's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ftl Ftl's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ftl Ftl's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ftl Ftl's in the sector have low bargaining power. Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ftl Ftl's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ftl Ftl's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Ftl Ftl's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ftl Ftl's has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ftl Ftl's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ftl Ftl's has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Weaknesses Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ftl Ftl's has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Davinder Singh, Anuj Sahu suggests that, Ftl Ftl's is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business, in the dynamic environment Ftl Ftl's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ftl Ftl's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Ftl Ftl's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ftl Ftl's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ftl Ftl's, firm in the HBR case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Ftl Ftl's 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Ftl Ftl's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ftl Ftl's needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ftl Ftl's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ftl Ftl's has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Opportunities Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business are -
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Ftl Ftl's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ftl Ftl's can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ftl Ftl's has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ftl Ftl's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ftl Ftl's can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ftl Ftl's can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ftl Ftl's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ftl Ftl's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business case study. Ftl Ftl's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ftl Ftl's in the consumer business. Now Ftl Ftl's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ftl Ftl's to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Ftl Ftl's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ftl Ftl's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ftl Ftl's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ftl Ftl's to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ftl Ftl's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Ftl Ftl's to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ftl Ftl's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business are -
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Regulatory challenges
– Ftl Ftl's needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ftl Ftl's can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ftl Ftl's can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ftl Ftl's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Ftl Ftl's.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Ftl Ftl's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ftl Ftl's high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business, Ftl Ftl's may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Ftl Ftl's will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ftl Ftl's is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ftl Ftl's in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Forbes Technosys Limited (A): Bill Payment Kiosk Business is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Ftl Ftl's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.